Artgore – music that refuses to let you breathe peacefully

Behind Artgore stand two strong personalities — Olha and Yaroslav. Each approaches music differently, yet it is precisely the contrast between their perspectives that creates the atmosphere the band is known for: raw, intense, and emotionally uncompromising.

Olha describes the beginning of her musical journey in a deeply personal way. According to her, everything changed after attending her first local metal show in 2018. Until then, she believed that only "chosen" musicians could ever stand on a stage and play live. That night made her realize that music belongs to anyone who truly has something to express. It was the moment that pushed her to stop suppressing her creative instincts and finally start writing music seriously.

Yaroslav speaks about music as a need to express emotions and ideas of his own. Although Olha is the main songwriter in Artgore, he considers the collaborative process of writing, recording, and influencing each other creatively to be one of the most important parts of the band's identity.

Artgore describe their sound as aggressive and overwhelming. Yaroslav sums it up with the phrase "IN YOUR FACE," emphasizing that their newer material feels far more intense than their earlier releases. The band moves somewhere between deathcore and groove metal, though they admit that simple genre labels can never fully capture what they are trying to create.

Olha also explains that the band is still searching for the exact sound they hear in their heads — something even slower, denser, heavier, and more suffocating. Their goal is not simply to sound aggressive, but to create music that completely consumes the listener with its atmosphere and weight.

When it comes to emotions, Yaroslav compares their music to hysteria, rage, and scenes from bloody Asian crime thrillers. According to him, the lyrics and stories behind the songs speak for themselves.

Interestingly, neither member points to one famous band as the direct reason they started making music. For Olha, the biggest inspiration came from becoming part of the metal scene itself and meeting people who were completely devoted to what they were doing. Yaroslav, meanwhile, remembers local bands from his hometown whose passion for creating music always felt inspiring.

Their influences also go far beyond metal. Olha mentions artists like Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, admiring their charisma, vocal uniqueness, and the strength of their songwriting. Yaroslav has recently found himself inspired by late '90s and early 2000s music, mentioning bands such as Meshuggah, Nevermore, and Decapitated. Among more modern influences, he highlights Alluvial, Gaerea, The Faceless, and Great American Ghost.

For both members, live performances remain the very core of the band's existence. Olha describes the stage as the only place where she truly feels she is exactly where she is supposed to be. Every performance is both a physical and psychological challenge, and she believes the audience deserves absolute maximum energy in return. Yaroslav sees live shows as a way of sharing energy and music with people, although he admits he still constantly thinks about the technical side of performances as well.

The band also carries major ambitions for the future. Olha dreams of one day performing at Bloodstock Open Air or even at Madison Square Garden as part of a lineup. Since the band is currently based in Poland, appearing at Mystic Festival would also mean a lot to them.

At the moment, Artgore are working on a new EP that will include the already released singles Asphyxiated and Hybristophilia alongside several new tracks.

And if they had to explain in one sentence why Artgore was formed? Olha says it was created to express themselves through the universal language of music and to leave a powerful mark on the scene. Yaroslav describes Artgore as the result of walking away from people who wanted to be "in a band" only as long as no real effort was required.

Today, their goal is simple: to make the best music they possibly can — and to leave behind anything except indifference.